Comments on: How to Schedule Your Day for Homeschooling

on 7/10/2008 Wow, another article that has seen some positive changes away from the "school at home" model. Thank you!

on 8/21/2006 After breakfast give your child 20-30 minutes to relax, so you can get prepared for the day. In the morning you can do academic lessons like math, science and English. Plan a break mid-morning for a snack. In the afternoon you should plan study time (depends on the grade level the time should be increased). A child in grade 7 or 8 should have 1 hr - 2 hr, depending on the amount of homework you give and if your child is doing a project. Have this time so you can relax, but be there if your child should need to ask questions. During this time your child can work on projects or essays, do homework or read. Each day you should have a physical activity time. This can be a run before breakfast, a bike ride after dinner or join a sports team.

on 8/8/2006 The first year of home-schooling can be a hard year. Here are ten tips to get you through.
1. Keep experimenting! Explore with various ideas, schedules, and techniques. It will take a while to understand what your family needs. We changed our entire format three times in the first six months. We first started by trying to re-create the traditional classroom, which included the pledge, the weather, and a rigid format. We then followed a written curriculum outline to the "T" which was awkward and felt robotic. We finally settled into our current schedule that includes a consistent daily three-hour "school" period that is supplemented with specials and activities throughout the day.

I use various books and worksheets and we have a daily checklist that compliments a two-week incentive program. We use daily stickers, coins, or stamps followed by a reward at he end of the given period. This could be modified as the students age, but remember that even older students thrive with rewards!

2. Take the time to understand your own teaching style while learning your child's learning styles. When I understood how I teach and combined that with how my children learn, I was able to set up lessons much better. Take the time to assess this! Also, do not be afraid to let your child learn and process strategies with you. My older son is constantly giving me feedback about lessons, worksheets, and schedules. He seems so enriched from the process and I think it really has helped his own personal awareness and meta cognition.

3. Keep really good records. Take the time to log what you do because it will serve as a journal, as a legal record for the school system, and to help monitor progress. We use three ring binders and we save "all" work by subject. The children love going back through their binders and it sometimes serves as review. We also take pictures of us in action that we add to our school log.

4. Be flexible. Maintaining a schedule is crucial to have success with learning at home, but also be flexible. One of the advantages of home schooling is the high quality of life that caters to your child's specific needs. Do not feel like you have to be a part of co-op, or that you have to have certain things to be healthy. Use wisdom and assess your own needs and requirements for a balanced schedule. I had to be very flexible by understanding we cannot possibly do everything. There are so many creative and enriching things to include that I sometimes felt dissatisfied or as if I did not do enough. But then I realized the simply sensational approach that includes slowing down and enjoying even the small things.

How do we define enough? I have given up on trying to implement every cool idea that I encounter! Even a regular classroom teacher cannot do everything! Now I select our favorite ideas and then teach from there. This flexibility has provided so much enjoyment.

5. Know the facts! It is a myth that kids need to be in school to get "socialized." Play dates, activities, and events can meet the needs of your children. It is a myth that children need to be in a school classroom to learn best. Take the time to find out what the research shows about development and ground yourself in truth. Home schooling is an excellent choice!

6. Keep the television off. We set a certain amount of time for television per day and then that is it. There will sometimes be a low time in the schedule when you may feel tempted to put on a TV show. Even if the show is educational, too much TV is not good. Leave it off. The low times will pass and the children will find something to do. Just be patient and set up various things for kids to pick from. It just takes time so wait it out to see their creativity come alive!

7. Enjoy each moment. Determine in advance that you will try to enjoy this special season. I actually make myself get into a professional mode when teaching just so I can provide my children with the best learning. I am still real and they see my authentic side, but when I teach them, I want to be at my best like I would for any other "job." I have determined to make it a pleasant experience and it is paying off. Monitor your child's disposition and moods and target their hearts. Do not be too "punitive" as this festers anger and behavior problems. Learn about behavior modification, positive rewards, and what truly motivates behavior. It is not that difficult to help your children get the skills they need while also building their self-esteem and helping them truly thrive with joy. It will take some research, some goal setting, and some prayer! My son writes, "I love you" on the bottom of some of his papers and to me, that is true success.

8. Set short term and long term goals. The first year includes so much experimenting that it may take a while to see any real academic progress. I initially began with the coursework being way too hard because I really want my children to excel academically. I soon realized there is more to schooling than the academics (plus academic achievement can only come with other growth) and the process is just as important as the final outcome.

I took a holistic approach (with easy short-term goals) to meeting our needs. Now, in the second year we are thriving academically and our schedule is flowing well. See the bigger picture and set yourself up for the long haul.

9. Be in sync with your local schools. Not only will your child have to be tested at certain grade levels, but you also want to be sure you are covering the required curriculum needs. Although we are not in the classroom, I still want my children to be similar to other children. I also want to be prepared just in case I ever had to put them into a traditional school. So at home we take tests, get some grades, and we follow some state guidelines.

Some people in support of "unschooling" do not do this, but I think we need to set our children up with similar experiences of a regular classroom. This will be unique to your family and the local schools in your area.

10. Keep things in proper perspective. The first year may be hard because you will constantly be assessing your choice to home school. It is something that may take some time to get comfortable with. Initially, I found it very difficult to explain to people "why" we home school as many people find it rebellious or not right. I finally answer with, "I get to do it!" Right at the end of the first year I realized some important things.

First, it is an honor to home school. It brings such a high quality of life that can be incredible for the family (and I can only imagine how awesome the long-term satisfaction will feel). If we keep trying, if we tap into the abundant resources around, and if we determine to make this a success, it will be. There will always be things we will miss out from the traditional school (I personally miss certain parties and the all-school assemblies), but the things we get from homeschooling are worth much more and do not compare. We get to home school, how cool is that?

on 11/22/2005 1. Plan your school time when you know your child is not going to be hungry or sleepy.
For instance, if your child is not a good morning person, start your lessons after mid-morning snack time, take a recess for lunch and possibly a nap (if they are preschool age), and then a quick snack before starting afternoon lessons. Stopping for lunch also allows them to spend valuable time with Dad, if he comes home for lunch.
2. Schedule home services and repairs during school time, and include them into your lessons for that day. Example: if your expecting a visit from the exterminator, look up some info before-hand to form a short simple lesson. Ask the professional if your child can ask them some questions about their work. Sometimes it stimulates your child's curiousity for you to ask the questions first. Then, after the job is done, have a discussion with your child about what they observed and how the service works. If you schedule the services during school time, and try to follow your usual lesson plans, your child will probably be too distracted to concentrate very well.
3. If your young child is fidgeting too much, and not paying attention no matter what you try, instead of pointing it out to them as a fault, channel their energy into a household task that can be carried out quickly. Simply come to a stopping point in your current lesson and announce, "Ok, now it's time for us to. . ." Supervise the activity closely, even if it is something your child does well on his own, reviewing the step-by-step procedure for completing the task as you have presented it to them before. Sometimes the ritual of a familiar job done right calms them down enough to follow more structure in their lesson. When the job is complete, matter-of-factly state that it is time to continue with the previous lesson. They don't ever need to know that you changed your lesson plans for the day. Record the activity in your log books just like a regular lesson, with objectives, steps, and review. That way, when you look back on your lesson plan book, you will be reminded of just how much you teach your child every day, and he will feel good about his accomplishments, not just be reminded of his failures.

on 11/22/2005 Provide little ones with photocopies of the older children's worksheets and let them do whatever they like with the copies: cut up, scribble, try to fill in the blanks. When little ones feel included, they're less likely to disrupt.

on 11/22/2005 We have the children stay in their rooms each afternoon for at least an hour. This allows me to get my things done around the house and still have time to gain some sanity by not being a mom or a teacher for that block of time, but a housewife.

on 11/22/2005 We record a message on our answering machine stating that we are homeschooling between the hours of so future callers will know not to call during this time. We also turn the ringer off so as not to distract us.